I see a lot of people saying his problem is he doesn’t have a plan B and can’t adapt, but I don’t agree at all. The problem is his plan A is terrible.
We do have players that have some talents, even in the division above, but the game plan negates all of these qualities and gives players less confidence.
For example, wingers should be in the team to run at players and make key passes and shots. But they rarely get the opportunity to isolate a defender 1 v 1. The opposition can sit deep and put 2 men on Fatawu and Mavididi when they get the ball, making it extremely difficult for them to skin defenders, because the defenders know the other Leicester players are static and they can afford to focus on them. The ball isn’t being moved quick enough either, so the defenders are never being pulled out of position.
People need to realise that high possession is a by product of other things in good teams (winning the ball back quickly, quality passing, someone always being available to receive a pass due to good movement, more talented individuals that cost £80m each, the opposition being afraid to push up) but they are not good teams because they have possession. Like too many managers Maresca doesn’t understand this basic principle.
80% of goals are scored within 3 passes. The easiest way to score is to put defenders in difficult positions - overloads, quick transitions, forcing mistakes with pressing, killer passes (yes there’s a risk of losing the ball with those) and, amazingly, shooting! Playing back to front through 11 defenders is the hardest way to score.
In fact, on the subject of myths, even long balls are not the enemy of beautiful, effective football that they are made out to be. Mahrez, Drinkwater and Albrighton used to play long early balls all the time, because it played to our strengths. Defenders weren’t organised, Vardy was rapid and we had the self-belief to throw support up there with him and play the percentages. It was exciting and effective and why - because it was intelligent football. Defenders make mistakes, you have to make them uncomfortable by taking risks.
You might lose the ball a few times, but when you get it right the rewards are are so much greater. If we did that with largely inferior players in a superior division, you cannot tell me that this squad in this division would not smash this league if the players were taught to have a bit of belief in themselves.
If this club has any hope it has got to get this myth out of its mind. The style of football we have (mostly) watched since 2016 has been dreadful. Players should be passing the ball with accuracy - but to do that they need more room for error. The permission to make mistakes in less critical areas (instead of front of your own box like we fancy) is essential in becoming good at anything. And we will not make the most of the possession we have unless we are backing ourselves to force the opposition into a mistake - rather than waiting for them to make a mistake.
Letting a defence get organised and then trying to thread the ball through the eye of a needle is brainless, common sense tells you it makes it harder for you.
